Why doesn't Cincinnati root for Ohio State?

Daugherty: We have our own stuff here

Mar. 21, 2012

"Scheduling is something we work on continuously," said Thad Matta, the Ohio State coach and Xavier turncoat. "Our philosophy has been to schedule home-and-home series outside the state of Ohio to give our program more national exposure whenever possible." / US Presswire

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BOSTON -- We here in the Republic of Cincinnati, Hybrid, Ohio, USA don’t much care about The Ohio State University. If we are being honest and candid and not flexing our legendary politeness, we will admit to mass indifference when it comes to the Buckeyes and their quasi-amateur athletes. Sam Wyche -- philanthropist, philosopher, mad genius, occasional football coach – said it best:

“Ya don’t live in Columbus! Ya live in Cincinnati!’’

Uh, Paul.

Yeah?

It was, “Ya don’t live in Cleveland.’’

Oh. Well. Columbus. Cleveland. The rest of the state. Same (in)difference.

I won’t say we’re provincial. But there are some of us who don’t realize there is civilization east of I-75. How are we supposed to find meaning 100 miles up I-71?

Don’t ask me. Ask my colleague Howard Wilkinson, who has covered politics for about 1,000 years, and grew up in Dayton. “People here have come to recognize themselves more as Cincinnatians than Ohioans,’’ he said. “That’s not necessarily the case in Lima.’’

There are some who resent Ohio State’s bigness. They find the Buckeyes’ unwillingness to play UC in basketball snobbish and smug. They took great pleasure in the Humpty Dumpty-ness of Jim Tressel, the real-life Wizard of Oz.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

For those people, THE Ohio State University is in Clifton, case closed, thankyouverymuch.

The vast rest of us?

Eh.

It’s not resentment, if you really don’t care. It’s like getting worked up over socket wrenches or peas n’ carrots.

(Before TOSU subscribers to the Enquirer start a bonfire with their newspapers and A. Griffin comes after me with a blocking sled, allow me a shocking disclaimer: The erstwhile Kid Down The Hall graduated last May from Ohio State. He received a very good education, particularly his last two years, especially for the price. I was mightily impressed with Ohio State, in all respects. So there is that.)

The Buckeyes have to play the Bearcats Thursday night. They can’t buy their way out of it. It’s the agreed-upon format of the NCAA tournament. You can bet they’re not happy about it.

"Scheduling is something we work on continuously," said Thad Matta, the Ohio State coach and Xavier turncoat. "Our philosophy has been to schedule home-and-home series outside the state of Ohio to give our program more national exposure whenever possible."

What Matta really means is, UC is not an acceptable loss for the Buckeyes. It couldn’t be explained to the alums and the fatwallet boosters. There is no “upside’’, to borrow a jock-o-matic term. Ohio State does not need to play Cincinnati, so it doesn’t.

In football, TOSU’s willingness to play Ohio schools is seen as a benevolent act, a nice payday for Akron or Youngstown St., for the chance to get clobbered. Basketball includes no such charity, because on any given evening, UC, Xavier or OU could beat the Buckeyes.

That doesn’t explain our overall ambivalence with much that is Buckeye. Maybe this does:

We have our own stuff here. Cleveland is a big Buckeye stronghold. Cleveland has no college sports of its own. Akron, Canton, Toledo etc.: Not much to cheer for if you’re not singing Carmen Ohio. Dayton has the Flyers. Every little blue highway between here and Ashtabula loves its Bucks, because there’s nothing else.

Cincinnati has two schools playing in the Sweet 16. And we’re supposed to get excited about The School Up North?

Some do. Most are on campus in Clifton.

“On campus, it’s absolutely not indifferent. There is no love for Ohio State at all,’’ said Chris Phillips, the head of the history department at UC. Phillips has researched local history extensively, and edited a magazine devoted to Cincinnati history. “Cincinnati feels it’s a little sister of the poor to Ohio State. There is a very vested interest in this rivalry-that-isn’t.’’

To the rest of Bearcat Nation, Ohio State is the next wall. As Yancy Gates put it Wednesday, “It’s not about Cincinnati versus Ohio State. It’s about advancing to the Elite Eight.’’

The Republic of Cincinnati comes by it naturally. Literally. We’re down here in the far left corner, surrounded by hills and a big river. We can see two other states from here. In Columbus, they see silos. We have far more in common with Louisville than with Cleveland. We are southern; Cleveland is Eastern. Columbus is Midwestern, kind of, thanks to its affiliation with a Midwestern sports league.

Ohio State defines Columbus. UC enhances Cincinnati.

Phillips said, “The feeling among longtime Cincinnatians is that the rest of the state is latecomers.’’ UC archivist Kevin Grace even suggests our provincialism owes to a big Appalachian influence. Mountain folks are clannish and suspicious of outsiders.

Yeah, maybe. Either that, or we simply don’t fawn over the Buckeyes the way the rest of Ohio does. We don’t need to. Personally, I think we deserve points just for acknowledging the rest of the state exists. As Mick Cronin noted Wednesday, “Cincinnati is a different city. We live in our own little world inside 275.’’

It’s not resentment or jealousy or any of the baser emotions. It’s indifference, wrapped in ambivalence, covered in apathy.